


Rain

by bistiles (alis)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-03
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-18 00:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1408063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alis/pseuds/bistiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>TW Prompt 6: Stiles is afraid of thunderstorms and Derek notices</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks Rachel [obsessedwithsmalldots @tumblr] for the prompt

It’s raining heavily outside and he watches him Stares out the window, into the consuming darkness that’s the street outside, eyes searching for the light and going after it hungrily, following the trailing luminosity of a headlight or the ever changing colors of the traffic light. The water is making rhythmic sounds against the window panes, a soft sequence of small thuds that somehow becomes deafening in the silence of the night, so much that for a while he can’t hear his own breathing. He sees how he holds the blanket a little closer, shuffling a bit where he is sitting by the window.

From where he stands, back in the concealing darkness of the kitchen, Derek can feel it still feels unfamiliar for Stiles to sleep in his apartment, in a home that is nor his or Scott’s. He noticed it before, when Stiles would wake up and stares in confusion around the room or how somehow he seemed unable to hide his brief flair of panic at an unfamiliar ceiling. Derek never says anything about it – there’s nothing to say really, and Stiles always seems to recover fast enough, letting his talkative self take over and wash everything away.

Still the clock on the wall says its 3:47 and Stiles should be in bed, not staring outside in complete silence. Silence and stillness seems so unnatural on Stiles, Derek muses, on someone who seems to be always moving and making some kind of noise, always making himself notice, like Stiles needs to somehow to prove his existence at every ticking second. Some time back, that irritated Derek to the point of violence. Now, seeing Stiles so quiet, so lost in his own head, the only thing Derek wishes is for him to talk incessantly again.

The light makes itself seen before the sound, an angry crack of light against the darkness of the sky. The brief light lights up Stiles, making it seem unreal for a moment. Derek can see him in the darkness, he can see each mole on Stiles’ cheek, he can see it as if it was morning; the night isn’t a hindrance to his vision. But the brief flash of light makes it crumble all around Derek, makes Stiles look like an apparition and somehow it makes Derek’s heart skip a bit, a fear several times experienced gripping his heart once again.

Everything is lost when the sound hits them, a loud booming that seems to come from everywhere. Stiles winces – the first full body movement he did in several long minutes – and his hands tighten its grip against the blanket, his breathing speed up. Derek frowns, listening to Stiles’ heart race like if it belonged to a chased rabbit. The acrid smell of fear fills the room and it’s that, if not Stiles’ heartbeat drumming loudly on his ears, that makes Derek moves.

There’s another thunder before he reaches Stiles and another when he touches his shoulder, feeling the trembling of his body under his palm. Stiles looks at Derek with scared, round eyes for a moment, coiling ready to spring for a moment before he relaxes, his brain finally realizing he doesn’t need to resource to his disaster-honed reflexes. Derek squeezes it lightly, soft reassurance, and slides his hand up to the back of Stiles’ neck and keeps it there. Another thunder, another full body flinch, this time somewhat contained, and Derek pulls Stiles closer, making his rest his cheek against his abdomen.

If Derek could, if he thought he would ever have an answer, he would ask about the thunder, on why Stiles is so scared of them. However, he knows better than to ask, he knows Stiles will artfully evade and never tell, so he doesn’t. Instead, he rubs the back of his neck, quietly willing him into safeness, wordless telling Stiles he is there.

It takes a long time, longer than Derek bother counting, for Stiles to relax and even longer for him not to flinch. His heart is still racing, his eyes are still scanning the darkness and Derek knows that whatever it was, it was bad. So he stays there, dutifully beside Stiles, watching the darkness with him until Stiles holds his free hand, looking up at Derek. His eyes talk about pain and feelings that Derek intimately know, they talk about fear and the panic of losing again, they talk about all the bad memories that are tightly tied to the storm and the thunders and Derek understands.

They silently go back to bed, to the safety of their nest, where Stiles pulls his knees up to his chest lying down and Derek curls himself around Stiles, back to chest, protecting him. Once morning comes, Derek knows that Stiles will be back to his usual self, all scars hidden, all pain masked. But until them he is there to cover him.


End file.
